SAVE PANTAI KUNDUR (PANTAI PUTERI) BEACHES

Serious erosion has occurred along the Pantai Kundur (Pantai Puteri) beaches at Klebang. If nothing or remedial works are carried out immediately, a portion of the road facing the beach front will collapse into the sea. This observation and fears have been highlighted by kampung folks who live at Pantai Kundur.

Authorities must act immediately to prevent this from happening. With the land reclaimation works at Klebang, there is no beautiful beach other than Pantai Kundur. With casuarina trees grown on the beaches, they give ample shade to visitors to relax and enjoy the sea breezes especially in the evenings.

If I correctly recall, Pantai Kundur beach was beset with erosion in late 1980s and beach rehabilitation works were done to rectify the erosion. Now, after 20 years, this problem has surfaced again.

Can this be due to the reclaimation works at Klebang Besar which is being undertaken now? By changing the coastline by reclaiming land from the sea, it will definitely change the wave patterns, strength and velocity of the waves. Maybe, we are seeing the results now at Pantai Kundur.

Here is a news report published recently:-

October 14, 2008 14:06 PM

Pantai Puteri Faces Coastal Erosion

MELAKA, Oct 14 (Bernama)

Pantai Puteri in Tanjung Keling, near here, is facing serious coastal erosion which could destroy the beauty of the beach.The effects of the erosion along the approximately four-kilometre stretch of beach could be seen where many of the casuarina trees had been uprooted while many more are in danger of being uprooted.

A check by Bernama reveals that in some places, only a few metres separate the road from the sea.The residents claimed that about 50 metres of the beach had been eroded within the last 10 years, bringing down the casuarina trees which had been planted to provide shade to visitors to the beach.

A resident, Abdullah Yahya, said the coastal erosion had resulted in a large chunk of the beach being 'swallowed' by the Straits of Melaka.

"The erosion becomes more serious especially during the season of the westerly winds as well as the possibility of the effects from the ongoing reclamation works at Pantai Klebang," he told Bernama, here today.

Abdullah, who is also chairman of the Melaka Fishermen's Association, said the erosion also seemed to threaten several structures built at the beach.He feared that the coastal erosion could also destroy the road beside the beach if nothing was done to check the erosion.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism, Culture and Heritage, Datuk Seet Har Cheow said the Melaka government had asked the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to take action to resolve the eroson problem along the beach.

He said Pantai Puteri, located 11 kilometres from the Melaka city centre, was a tourist destination and the DID should act immediately to save the beach.-- BERNAMA